Danny Elgarat calls for public revolt after brother Itzik’s body returned from Gaza

After the body of his brother, hostage Itzik Elgarat was returned to Israel early Thursday morning, Danny Elgarat talks about his deep sense of anger and frustration toward the government and the public.

In a statement published in the Haaretz daily, Elgarat calls for a public awakening, for real civil resistance, and not just symbolic protests

He says the public could have saved lives had they acted earlier, criticizing citizens for emerging to the streets to pay their respects to those murdered, as witnessed on Wednesday, ahead of the Bibas funeral, instead of engaging in an ongoing struggle for change.

Itzik Elgarat, 69, who was murdered in captivity, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he lived next door to the Bibas family.

Another hostage family member, Yishai Lavi-Miran, whose husband Omri Miran is still held hostage, says that he was taken on October 7, 2023 with their neighbor, Tsahi Idan, whose body was returned to Israel early Thursday morning.

“I so hoped for a different ending,” she says. “An ending where both families would sit together again, with Tsahi and Omri, talking. We know Omri is alive, I can feel it, but everything is fragile.”

Lavi-Miran says that [most] of the four hostages whose bodies were returned Thursday could have been rescued if a deal had been made in time.

Omri Miran, 48, is now the oldest living hostage still held by Hamas and with two young daughters at home, ages 2 and 3, says Lavi-Miran.

“The only picture I see in my mind is Omri blowing out the candles with Alma on his birthday,” which falls in April, says Lavi-Miran, adding that she senses no movement toward phase 2 of the hostage deal. “We cannot have another birthday without a father. We must not stop. There are still 24 hostages alive, and there are fallen ones who must also be brought back.”

She adds, “I truly, truly hope that in the coming days, we will receive news that the releases are continuing, that phase 2 is moving forward, that everyone is coming home, and that we will know exactly when the last hostage is returning. For us, for our children, for the future generation of Israel—so that our children can rebuild what our generation has destroyed.”